Plyometric Training
Plyometric training has long been a staple of athletes who need to work on their explosive strength. Plyocity defines it as "exercises that enable a muscle to reach maximum strength in as short a time as possible. This speed-strength ability is known as power."
With athletes, plyometric training involves intense exercises specifically designed for their particular sports such as jumping off a platform and rebounding off the floor onto a higher platform. Most of us don't need exercises of that level of difficulty, but it's possibly to incorporate basic plyometric-type moves into your workout to add more intensity and challenge.
Before you get started, keep in mind that plyometric training:
- Is very advanced and intense! If you're a beginner, don't mess with it until you've been exercising consistently for at least 3 months.
- Requires strength and endurance, so make sure you have some weight training under your belt
- Should be added VERY slowly and in VERY short intervals--beginning with 10-30 seconds and slowly working your way up to 1 minute. In between, walk in place until you recover.
- Should be followed by a day of rest. Trust me, you'll know why.
- Should only be done about once a week. It's easy to injure yourself with this type of training, so be cautious.
Safety Considerations
Plyometric training isn't necessary to challenge yourself and, in fact, may very well cause injury. Elizabeth Quinn, Sports Medicine Guide, cautions in her article, Plyometrics-The Controversy Continues, "Most athletic injuries are caused by forces upon musculoskeletal structures that exceed the structure's tensile limits. This means injury is caused by excessive force. What could be more forceful than bounding off a 2 to 3 foot box and back up onto another box?"
Again, being cautious and doing basic exercises at first can help you ease your way into plyometric training. Now, what exactly are those exercises? Up next: Plyometric Exercises.
